As of 1 January 2008, a more restrictive handling of business trips will be introduced, at least as far as the reimbursement of travel expenses is concerned. From this moment on, the tax-exempt payment of per diem allowances and mileage allowances will be limited.
As of next year, the per diem allowances paid to cover supplementary costs incurred by the worker in relation to meals consumed during the business trip will be tax exempt for an unlimited period of time only if they are connected to one of the activities indicated in the law, such as external missions, hiring out of workers and temporary activities performed in a place situated in a municipality different from that of the working place.
The per diem allowances are tax exempt for an unlimited period of time only if the employer is obliged to the payment by a provision on the salary such as a collective agreement. If the payment should have been established in an individual labour contract, per diem allowances are tax exempt only for a limited period of time. The duration depends on the kind of business trip.
More specific rules have been introduced also in the framework of business trips in order to distinguish if they are to be considered a real business trip or only a trip between the home of a worker and his working place. As opposed to the real business trips, the worker cannot claim tax exempt reimbursements for trips between his home and the working place. However, the worker can claim allowances and a commuter lump sum.
As far as contracts are concerned, in which the travel expenses of an employee are already compensated with the salary, as of 2008 it will not be possible to transform them in tax exempt single invoices regarding business trips.
On the other hand the employer will be able to reimburse once a week the expenses incurred by a worker, who returns to his home from his working place and who lives 120 km from the working place. Previously this was limited to a sum of 2.931 euro a year.